CBT or cognitive behavioural therapy is a form of therapy that engages in the connection between ones thoughts, emotions and behaviours. CBT can help individuals work through current/ongoing challenges. Kayla uses a trauma-informed CBT perspective. There are so many forms of CBT! You will see a few more listed below

ACT stands for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. ACT is a form of CBT that focuses on individuals utilizing mindful skill strategies to work through and accept challenging emotions/experiences rather than surprising them or avoiding them. This form of therapy also requires positive reinforcement so you may end up working through self-esteem strategies synonymously.

DBT stands for dialectical behaviour therapy. Again this is a form of CBT, told you there were a lot of them! DBT, however, was intiially created to aid those with borderline personality disorder. This does not mean it isn’t effective for those without this diagnosis so remaining open minded to different strategies is important. DBT is often seen as a more “problem solving” approach within therapy. It focuses more on challenging and adapting maladaptive behaviours.

EMDR is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. EMDR is often utilized to help individuals work thorough traumatic experiences they hold. EMDR relies on bilateral stimulation- typically with ones eyes, however, modifications with equipment can allow for individuals to use headphones or pulsars instead. EMDR can help individuals heal from emotional distressing events in their life through working on specific targets and allowing individuals to recall distressing events while the clinician guides their eye movements. EMDR memory recall has been compared to being on a train-watching images/events pass by but not fixating/sticking on a specific image instead you just notice things pass you by while you go from point a to point b. For more information on this strategy please don’t hesitate to reach out!

Polyvagal therapys’ aim is to enable individuals to connect to their nervous system in order to better understand their connection to their emotions and cognitions. We work through the bodys’ alarm response with respect to the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system.